Believe it or Not: These Guys Say Not to Buy Clothes Online—Do You Agree?

As far as shopping online goes, there's not much I wouldn't buy. Just this weekend alone, I bought clothes, accessories, groceries, dinner, toilet paper, and electronics—all on the internet, from the comfort of my living room sofa. But then I read this disturbing story on personal finance advice site MainStreet.com, that says you shouldn't buy clothes online. What?

According to experts interviewed by MainStreet.com, shopping for clothing online is a bad idea because, oftentimes, clothes are cheaper in stores!

"Clothes are frequently cheaper in stores because of a simple reality of bricks-and-mortar retail," MainStreet.com says, "Inventory is hard to manage. And when management screws up and winds up with a back room full of clothes it can't sell, that's when you see big discounts rarely offered online."

"There are high-end designer clothes that you can't get online at as much of a reduction as in an outlet store," Teri Gault of TheGroceryGame.com told MainStreet.com. "But you have to go out of your way to get it—so they don't compete with regular retailers, they can only put outlet stores way out in certain places."

Do you guys agree? Do you think there are better deals in brick-and-mortar stores than online?

Now, I don't know about you, but for the past, oh, five years or so, I would say that I've done the majority of my clothing shopping online. This is for a variety of reasons:

· Hard-to-find brands and products: A lot of what I want to buy can't be bought in stores near where I live—so the only place I can get them is online.

· Stores don't always have the styles and sizes I want: A lot of times, I'll know exactly what I want to buy before I head to the store—and a lot of times the stores won't have it. They'll either be out of my size or not stock the style, so in spite of all my good intentions (and desire to try the garment on), I'll wind up ordering online, direct from the warehouse, instead.

· Avoiding dealing with people: This is a touchy one, but once in a blue moon, when I want to really splurge on a big-ticket item, but don't want to deal with potential attitudes from sales associates at swanky stores (there are a small handful of stores I try to avoid in New York because of their notoriously mean sales staff), I'd rather just buy the item online, without having to subject myself to any kind of weird second-class-citizen treatment.

· Laziness: When I get in a lazy mood, ordering something online means I don't have to haul myself uptown on the subway on the weekend—or to Pennsylvania (I live in New York), which I have been known to do on occasion to shop at one of my favorite stores in Philly—only to be confronted with problem #1, above.

· Irrational fear of bedbugs: Last year, when New York City stores faced a massive bedbug epidemic, and stores were self-reporting that they'd found bedbugs on merchandise, I stopped shopping in brick-and-mortar stores entirely (for a couple of months). I like ordering things online and having them turn up at my apartment packaged in factory-sealed plastic.

What do you think? Do you shop online more than you shop in stores? What are some of your reasons for shopping online? Are there some things you won't buy online and would only buy in brick-and-mortar stores? Tell us in the comments!